Thursday, February 7, 2013

(Once the story broke regarding yet another story regarding
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and PEDs, I sent out the
MAMBINO-signal to our two resident New York Yankees fans, El Miz and
Bockerknocker. To my surprise, Mizzy sent me in the direction of his
friend Vin and a thousand word rant on A-Rod, his contract and ensuing
worthlessness. Too good to be left off of MAMBINO, this is Vin's maiden
post. Let's make him feel welcome.)

KOBEsh: Vin--let's
establish some baseline qualifications before you go on a fullblown
rant. Having watched most games of A-Rod's Yankees career, especially
the last two seasons-worth, how much do you feel he has left in the
thank? A large portion of this answer has to predicated on a pretty
invasive hip surgery, but regardless, what do you see as the best case
scenario?

Vin: Regarding issue #1 i.e. how much does A-Rod have left in the tank, I think the answer is not much.

The
number one problem for him, and this has been the case since 2008, the
first year of his 10 year extension, is that he is consistently tripped
up by injury. Some of these injuries have been of the nagging variety
and probably have become more prevalent simply because he is getting
older (2008 and 2011 are good examples). Some are much more serious and
could very well be related to what now appears to be years of PED use
(the hip surgeries before 2009 and 2013). Some are of the freak variety
(getting hit in the hand by a King Felix fastball in 2012). But no
matter how you slice it, since signing the worst contract in sports
history at 10 years and $275 million, A-Rod has averaged 124 games
played a season, and only 108 as a third baseman. Seemingly every spring
training begins with Rodriguez talking about how he is in the best
shape he's been in in years and how this offseason was the first time in
years he was able to dedicated himself fully to training for some
unique reason. He was even saying that at the end of this grisly October
that "this is the first time in years I will be able to train without
worrying about rehabbing". Coming into 2011 in particular, the buzz in
the media was all about how he looked better than he had in years, how
the spark in his bat was there again, and he did start out the season
very strong... and ended up playing 99 games.

My point: I accepted
several seasons ago that Alex Rodriguez is a 120 game a season
player... or by definition not a full time player. It's hard to have a
very high ceiling when that is the reality.

As for his actual
production while playing, even last year he was an above average
starting third baseman (.783 OPS, 18 homers in 122 games). But a quick
look at his stats indicates that he is already well on the gradual
decline any major leaguer eventually gravitates towards. The last season
that his performance was truly elite was 2007, the last time it was
great was 2009.

So, best case scenario going forward, even before
these new revelations? Well, he's out at least half of this season best
case, so you would pencil him in for maybe 65 games after he came back
at the All-Star Break. I'd then give him 2 more seasons where you're
hoping he can give you 120 games played/100 at third. But to pretend he
would somehow begin to improve his performance, rather than continue to
decline, after another major injury and more aging would be stupid. Add
in the factor that he apparently will be off the "juice," a term I'll
use to cover all the different PEDs he's apparently been helped by. I'd
say the best case scenario is he is a part time third baseman/DH who
provides slightly above average numbers when actually on the field for
another 2-3 years before his body completely breaks down and/or he
declines into a truly subpar player. But that is truly relying on the
descriptor "best case."

So to summarize, we're looking at a
120-game a year player (maximum) whose production is likely to be either
slightly above major league-level or merely average major league-level
when playing. That's not good enough for any MLB club, let alone a
perennial contender like the Yankees, and that's not even factoring in
the money. A-Rod has stated that he has zero intention to retire
willingly, while the team is making behind the scenes preparations to
attempt a premature severing of ties with him.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

(A MAMBINO live report from Brooklyn for the Nets-Lakers game last night)

"Unreal. Just...unreal."

I slumped back in my seat time after time, stunned at the game that was taking place in front of me. Quarter after quarter, the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers
continued to shake convention in a contest that couldn't be any less
believable. Still, I whispered in amazement for 48 minutes, sometimes
with a smile on my face and others with a bewildered scowl, hands atop
my head.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets in their first visit to
the Barclays Center last night, 92-83, in a game the Lakers had to
have, Brooklyn couldn't have tried harder to give away and ultimately, Pau Gasol would love to have back.

The Barclays Center is merely a 30-minute train ride away from my
apartment. This gigantic iron behemoth is brilliantly located in the
middle of New York's second most heralded borough, crossing almost a
dozen subway lines and the Long Island Railroad. It stands out from the
surrounding environ of a typical urban center, as if Will Smith and Jeff
Goldblum lost the war on July 4th and a spaceship landed in the middle
of the BK. The Barclays Center is convenient, marvelous, and most
importantly, thanks to its NBA tenants, cheap.

Despite a move out of the swamp in New Jersey to a brilliant,
shining, $1 billion dollar arena, the now Brooklyn Nets are struggling
to find their place in NYC. Attendance is up to 16th this season, a
solid upward trend from finishing no better than 25th in crowd support
since 2009. However, like with any expansion or relocation franchise,
it's been difficult to find a fervent, dedicated fan base when a team
has little tradition, few marketable stars, and generations of followers
tied to another organization. New Yorkers are still very dedicated to
their beloved Knicks,
and the ticket price to see the now contending Bockers is sky high. For
the playoff-bound Nets? There's a far smaller mortgage to be paid for
attending a game in Brooklyn. Knowing all of this before showing up to
Barclays tonight, I shouldn't have been so surprised by the swath of
Lakers fans in front of me.

Still, even high fives from strangers clad in Lakers hats and
headbands couldn't distract me from the task at hand--defeating the then
28-19 Brooklyn Nets. LA came into the game short-staffed, with Dwight Howard missing his second consecutive game due to a re-aggravated shoulder injury and Metta World Peace due to a bogus suspension for "punching" Brandon Knight during Sunday's Pistons game. Chief amongst my concerns were how anyone would be able to check the 6'7" Joe Johnson, if Reggie Evans would now gobble up 25 boards instead of 16 now that Dwight was ruled out and if Steves Nash and Blake would just spot Deron Williams the 20 he would eventually score.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Thirty-six games is all that stands between the Los Angeles Lakers and either a merely disappointing season or one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

As our own Drew Garrison wrote yesterday,
this Lakers team simply can't be trusted with your emotions; like a
mercurial adolescent, there's little indication of which squad will show
its face night to night, quarter to quarter, minute to minute. It's
been a season of teases for the Lakers and their fans, vacillating
wildly between the gutty, persistent crew that defeated the best team in
the West, the one that, just days later, lost to the worst team in the
West in a ridiculous 540 second meltdown.

Regardless of which way you sway with this Lakers team--having
written them off or blindly hoping for a miracle stretch run--there's
little doubt that by the middle of February we should all know there
this team is headed in April.

The next 28 days are pivotal for not just the Lakers, but of course
for their main competitors for the bottom two spots on the Western
Conference playoffs bracket. The Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks remain in a five-team scrum for the "honor" of facing destruction via superhuman Oklahoma City Avengers Thunder squad or a methodical, Batman-esque deconstruction by the San Antonio Spurs.

Just to be clear about what exactly the Lakers are facing this month, let's break down team-by-team the four weeks of February: